Prof Michele van der Merwe had the privilege of capping not one but two daughters who received their respective degrees from Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) during the March graduation week.
Within days of each other, Anke was awarded her PhD degree in Afrikaans and Dutch and her sister, Andrea, crossed the podium to accept her LLB degree. What made the experience even sweeter is that Van der Merwe, now Chair of the Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education, graduated from SU 26 years ago with a D.Litt. in Afrikaans and Dutch. Her husband, Albert, is also an alumnus with an honours degree. Between them the Van der Merwe family now boast an impressive 11 degrees.
Prof Van der Merwe says her own academic experience enabled her to support her daughters as they completed their studies. “I could assist with advice and care when things were not going great or as expected. And there is nothing as soothing as a shot of caffeine with one's mum at one's favourite Stellenbosch coffee shop!"
Anke (27), who attended La Rochelle Girls' High School in Paarl and now lives in Stellenbosch, spent three years working on her PhD. “It was a journey I enjoyed immensely. At the beginning it was intimidating, because the topic demanded that I learn something I had never learned before. I spent six weeks completing an online course on corpus linguistics at Lancaster 肆客足球 (in the UK), which became the basis of my research."
肆客足球 her thesis titled “A diachronic corpus study on the occurrence of late style in the poetic oeuvre of Breyten Breytenbach", she says it was a privilege to do research on the iconic writer. “I have always found so much resonance in his work, and I never got 'tired' of my subject, as people had warned me might become a possibility."
Andrea, also a La Rochelle old girl, celebrated her graduation with her sister and parents a few days after Anke's ceremony. “I feel honoured and proud to have graduated with my sister this week. My favourite part was being capped by my mother. She and my sister both encouraged me during my LLB studies, and I feel blessed to have had their support. They have always inspired me to work hard and pursue my dreams and passions."
Although the sisters' faculties are both located on Ryneveld Street, Anke says the Law Faculty feels like “another world". Their study areas differ vastly and Anke says hearing about her sister's work shook her out of her own PhD “bubble".
Knowing that her mother also completed her PhD in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch was definitely special, she adds. “She gave me confidence with her words of encouragement, and I could count on her. Completing a PhD has literally been one of my dreams since I was a child, and it is because of her. However, she never pressured me to do it; it was always my own decision that this was my goal in life."
For this family of Maties the 2025 March graduation week has been a double celebration. “It is a wonderful feeling and my husband and I are both delighted," says Prof Van der Merwe. “We feel so blessed but also humbled. As parents, we encouraged our daughters to work hard and follow their dreams.
“These dreams are now realised as they pursue their own interests and develop into a young academic and a young lawyer respectively," she reflects.
PHOTO: Stefan Els
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